JOIN USOver 2,500 athletes, including those from Bengaluru and neighbouring districts, took part in the half marathon, organised by the Youth Empowerment and Sports department as part of Dasara festivities on Sunday.
Sports Minister Abhay Chandra Jain, Vice-Chairman of Sports Authority of Karnataka P M Somasekhar, athlete Arjun Devaiah, MLA M K Somasekhar and others launched the marathon at Chamundi Vihar Stadium.
While some athletes were running to win, a majority of them were running for the sake of participation and were enjoying it. Some were glued to music on their cellphones while running. The athletes wore the t-shirts distributed by the Sports department. While professional athletes took part in half marathon (21.5 km); college boys ran 10 km; college girls 5 km; high school boys 5 km; and high school girls, men and women ran open competition for 3-km run.
The route of the marathon was from Chamundi Vihar Stadium and back, via Nazarbad Police Station, Karanji Lake Road, Karanji Lake Circle, KSRP Grounds, Wind Flower Resorts, Chamundi Hill Main Road, Chamundi Hill Circle, Central Excise Office, Dairy Circle and again Nazarbad Police Station.
Under men’s section, B C Tilak of the Air Force won the half marathon by covering the distance in 55 minutes and 34:13 seconds. He was closely contested by B J Chethan . Under women’s category, Thippavva Sannakki of the South Western Railways clocked in one hour, 3 minutes and 12 seconds.
Assistant Director for Sports K Suresh said the response for the marathon has been overwhelming given that a similar marathon, with a bigger cash prize, was held at Bengaluru the same day.